Apprenticeship Indentures

Binding written contracts that bound a young person to a master mariner or shipowner for a fixed term, historically four years, in exchange for training in seamanship and navigation toward officer certification. Under the British Merchant Shipping Acts the indenture set the apprentice’s obligations, the master’s duty to instruct, and the premium paid; sea time served under indenture counted toward Board of Trade certificate-of-competency examinations. The system declined through the twentieth century as structured cadet schemes replaced it.